Class teaches children tricks on escaping stranger danger

"What does a bad stranger look like?" Joe Schivinski asked a group of children gathered Saturday morning at Mifflin Lions Club.

After a short pause, 6-year-old Jordan Shafer raised her hand and said, "Sometimes they wear gloves to cover up fingerprints."

"You know what, that's good information," Schivinski said after a few more kids gave their answers. "However, let me tell you a secret. The only way we know the difference between good and bad strangers is by their actions -- by what they do."

Schivinski, an educator in the Dignity Memorial Escape School Abduction Prevention Program, spoke to about 20 children and parents Saturday in Mifflin, offering tips for preventing and escaping an abduction.

"These people are all looking for you, so we need to make sure we're smarter than them," Schivinski said.

He said one of the keys to avoiding victimization is "being smart" rather than reacting out of fear. He taught children physical techniques for escaping from possible abductors and also taught them to look for their parents or a trusted adult when approached by someone they don't know.

Schivinski, who travels throughout the area conducting these one-hour seminars, said one of the most common tricks abductors use is to pretend they are looking for a lost pet and ask a child for help, leading them away form the safety of their home.

"There are a lot of programs like these in bigger cities, but not often in smaller towns, " said Mifflin Police Chief J.J. Bittinger.

Bittinger said during the summer, Mifflin is more vulnerable to such crimes because its population "almost quadruples" with vacationers. He said the village's proximity to U.S. 30 and Interstate 71 also make it easy for criminals to escape quickly.

Hayesville village marshall Randy Jackenheimer said he's considering bringing the escape school to Hayesville.

"I think smaller towns sometimes think, 'it's not gonna happen to us' and that attitude can make them just as vulnerable as a bigger city," Jackenheimer said. "There's nothing wrong with being prepared."

Tyson Shafer came to the event with his mother-in-law, Debra Cole, and his two children, Jordan, 6 and Bronson, 3.

He said he was surprised at some of the things he learned -- especially the advice for kids to stay calm.

"I had always taught the kids to scream to get attention, so I was surprised to hear that they should stay calm and think more about ways to escape," Shafer said.